In a statement this afternoon, RTÉ sai: ‘Last night’s Claire Byrne Live Referendum Special gave both the Yes and No campaigns an equal opportunity to air their arguments, which both sides did passionately and trenchantly. The panel was composed of three speakers on each side of the argument and the audience was evenly divided between Yes and No.

‘Impartial analysis of Claire Byrne Live Referendum Special will show that when the number of speakers on each side of the referendum question and the airtime afforded to them are both taken into account, the programme gave an equitable and fair opportunity to both sides to express their views.

I have great respect for Claire Byrne but her team let her down tonight – the show was poorly planned, disorganised & quite frankly like a circus.

This kind of TV does not serve the public who wish to be informed of the facts and evidence. #cbLive#8thref

‘While the programme did its best to include as many voices as it could, it was not possible to speak to everyone and it was made clear to every audience member in advance that there was no guarantee they would get to speak on the programme.’